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Lee Westwood wore Tiger Woods red on Sunday as he attempted to end two years in Europe without a victory.

Francesco Molinari wore Stewart Cink ogre-green as he tried to end three years without a victory. As usual Tiger-red triumphed and with this win at the Portugal Masters Westwood now goes top of the Race to Dubai ahead of Rory McIlroy.

The 36-year-old Englishman was both skilful and fortunate. On the 17th hole he baled out of his dangerous second shot over water, but was lucky that his nervy hoik finished in an ornamental shrubbery near a path from which he got a free drop.

The bad news was that he now faced a flop shot, off a bare lie, over some small trees, to a green with water beyond. He said earlier in the week that the weakness in his game is from 80 yards in. On Sunday Westwood played one of the shots of his life, all but holing the pitch and leaving a tap-in for birdie. It was just reward for an awful lot of hard work in the previous two years.

Poor Molinari watching back in the fairway must have been cursing his luck. The Italian had just jabbed a short putt for par left of the hole on the 16th green, having putted brilliantly earlier in the afternoon. But his old weakness had come back at the crucial moment.

At the start of the week Westwood said he wanted put himself in a position where a win in Dubai next month would guarantee he would finish top of the money list. By Saturday night it was no longer about the money, it was about winning.

Westwood’s caddie Billy Foster, who used to caddie for Seve Ballesteros, has been reprising the great Spaniard’s mantra all week “second is no good.” On Sunday evening Westwood became a winner again, just as he was back in 2000 when he had six victories and was known as the most ruthless closer on tour. Westwood can now take that winning feeling on into next year’s majors, having become such a formidable player in the big championships.

But spare a thought for Molinari. Like Westwood he is one of the best ball strikers on Tour, but Molinari fears the putter. Before his round Gary Wolstenholme, the conqueror of Molinari in the semi-final of the 2003 Amateur Championship, said: “Can he conquer his nerves? He was exceptionally long as an amateur but his putting was always a genuine weakness.” This time the weakness proved still as genuine as this Italian, who can yet become an important member of Colin Montgomerie’s Ryder Cup team.